Here's the full translated transcript of that video. I've tried to keep the feel of it somewhat close to the interview itself.

Ragnar: Draugen is an

<laughter>

Dag: Why did you say that in a deep voice?

Ragnar: I was trying to be ominous and epic.

On the outside it’s a first person psychological horror game, and on the inside it’s a story about the darker side of National Romanticism. It’s also a game about Norway, both the beautiful nature of mountains and fjords, but also the mythological and wonderful things about Norway seen from the outside. The main character is an American who travels to Norway in 1933 and must figure out what has happened in a small settlement in western Norway. It’s very important that it’s from the outside, and quite important that it’s an American. We debated a Britt, but it had to be someone from a long way away.

Dag: We thought the story fit better with someone who came from long away…

Ragnar: And there was a connection between Norway and America, a lot of people emigrated there.

Dag: The natural connection is that back in America [the main character] knows someone who has emigrated from this small settlement, and he’s been invited to come and experience the real, authentic Norway.

Ragnar: But it would have changed the story completely if [the main character] had been from England, or France, or Spain or Japan. It is crucially important where he’s from.

He’s a writer, kind of a renaissance man, who does a lot of different things as many of the rich did back then. They wrote, they photographed, and they did science…

Dag: Yes, scientists. It starts with a very scientific approach to the problem. And as things become clearer you start understanding how this society works, how it’s put together. Then he sees more and more of his own humanity, and he becomes more of a human himself. He starts out kind of like an insect, and then he turns into a human by the end of the story.

Ragnar: And then the game end with …

<They chuckle>

Dag: It’s about small communities, about how they look on the surface in contrast to everything that’s going on underneath that. It’s about family feuds, about disease, about gruesome tragedies, about … I’m not sure how much more I dare say.

Ragnar: Incest and suicide and cults and …

(Dag bleakly protests)

Ragnar: Oh yes it is.

Martin: We’ve all seen those nice national romantic paintings

Ragnar: And we hate them!

Martin: We hate them all. No, but we’re playing with what’s behind these images, behind this façade. How easily the house of cards that a small settlement is can be toppled over.

It’s something of a detective game too. While we’re telling this story, there are tasks for the player to do. Finding out what really happened here.

Ragnar: Or maybe scientists, that is to say you have to find the connections between all of these disparate incidents. Meanwhile you have to avoid the isolation, which is also a strong theme, the isolation of being stuck in a small settlement without being able to get away.

Interviewer: How important is it to make a game that’s set in and about Norway?

Ragnar: Very important! Not to make it easier to get funding, not because we feel like we have to, but because we really, really want to. These are some incredibly exciting surrounding. It has always been our goal to make something where we can draw upon those elements that, while not terribly exotic to us (though still very exciting), are so exotic to people who’re not from here. There is so much to draw inspiration from.

Ragnar: Sweden is very good at creating places people want to go see, both on television and in movies. And we’re … not. It’s not just our fault, but when Martin Scorese wants to make a movie in Oslo we scare him away with high costs and because we’re not willing to…

Dag: No incentives!

Ragnar: No incentives. Luckily we don’t need any incentives to “film” in western Norway for Draugen. I hope this will make people say “Oh, I wanna go there!” That is definitely one of our goals. If people do, then it’s strike. Then we’ve won. [Gråfjord] is not a real settlement, but it’s in an area not too far from Ålesund in North-Western Norway. We’re going to go somewhere and take pictures – but we don’t want to reveal where that is.

Dag: Yeah, there is a specific fjord we’ve based it on.

Ragnar: We say it’s a horror game, because that’s easy to understand, but it’s really so much more than that. It’s a psychological horror game and it’s a story. Martin may not be representative in this, but I myself love horror – I always have. I’ve written a bit of horror before, but we’ve never made a horror game. And we’re not going to make a game where there are cats jumping out from windows…

Dag: Where do the cats jump out from then?

Ragnar: No, well, in horror movies there are always a cat that comes jumping out like <shuuaaach>. Or there’s a small girl standing before you with hair covering her face, and she’s pointing with a white hand. That’s not the type of horror game we want to make. It’s about the atmosphere, and atmosphere is something we do well.

Martin: With Draugen we’ll rather play with what you don’t see, rather than as they said cats jumping out at you. It’s something you feel all round you that makes it scary, without needing the Draug to be standing by the window trying to get in.

Interviewer: But in the teaser there were some screamers. Is it a goal to make the player piss himself/herself in fright?

Ragnar: If that were to happen it would certainly be a bonus. But this trailer is really made for a specific effect; it’s not necessarily representative of how the game will be.

Narrator: And as if it wasn’t enough with an arch-Norwegian horror game, they are also testing ways to bring it even closer.

Dag: It’s because the game is incredibly suited for this type of technology. It’s as easy as that.

Ragnar: Also we have on of these devkits lying around, and we really want to use it for something. But of course this is a game that… Is there anything better than putting on the headset and experience North-Western Norway in the middle of Gråvika in 1923 [sic], it’s incredible. You’re transported there, it’s like time travel.

Draugen will be at most four hours long. There, now I’ve really said it, now it can’t ever be longer. It might actually be shorter too. We are going to tell our story, but horror games often get repetitive. That’s because there usually only about one thing, while our game is about so much more than that. It’s not just “What goes bump in the night”, it’s about these things you discover and explore. So I hope it won’t be more than four hours long, but I feel those four hours will be varied, exciting and interesting.

Dag: And you only have one lamp with so much oil in it. It lasts as long as it lasts, and then it runs out.

Thank you khh! What a great read-- and what a great gift to be able to translate for others.

But this trailer is really made for a specific effect; it’s not necessarily representative of how the game will be.

Wonder if the "specific effect" is "appealing to the people who like jump-scares, even though we've announced that it's not that kind of game."

This is right up my alley, but my only concern is how short it's expected to be. Now, I can draw out a "short" game for a long time via exploration and just enjoying scenery and music, but if "you only have one lamp [that] lasts as long as it lasts, and then it runs out," I won't be able to do that...presumably.

khh and mrKnask like this

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." - Eleanor Roosevelt

Ditto. Me and my friend have been planning to stream this since we first heard about it. I enjoy watching him squirm with terror when he watches me play horror games, and secretly focus on that so I don't get as scared.

khh, Lautaro and Aj17 like this

"This story, like all good stories, begins where it ends, in a tower, in a realm that is no more." - Lady Alvane

"I will stop doing this thing that I love and makes me feel happy and fulfilled to follow you to the next stop on our pointless, depressing journey." - Shitbot